Chapter 138: Chapter 123: Bloodbath at the County Office

Du Chengfeng never imagined that even after presenting the official seal and credentials, someone would still see through his identity as a rebel.

Whether they truly saw through it or just pretended to, it didn’t matter much; after all, the county magistrate had already ordered his arrest on the spot—was he supposed to wait to be imprisoned and then try to clear his name?

Of course, if he really hadn’t done anything, he could indeed clear his name.

But the problem was, he had indeed done it.

This wasn’t something that could be investigated further. If they really investigated, they would find nothing but evidence of his crimes—so as the armory chief of Jizhou, and as an innocent civilian, Du Chengfeng felt it was necessary to stop things here.

"Since you’ve figured it out... then I’ve figured it out too."

Casually grabbing a Water and Fire Staff, Du Chengfeng swung it in a circle, immediately knocking the government constables around him to the ground.

Afterwards, Du Chengfeng pointed at the corpse on the ground.

"The gang of thieves from the Taiyin Mountain God Temple are truly audacious, daring to attack the county office, murder officials, and rebel..."

"...What?"

The county magistrate, Hao Chong, was so shocked that he couldn’t process what was happening.

Zhang Qi was his close friend, the one who had personally instructed him in the Mystical Technique, so how could he suddenly become such an audacious thief?

To even attack the county office, murder officials, rebel... wait, murder officials?

"Hiss!"

Finally realizing, County Magistrate Hao Chong was so terrified that his back was instantly drenched in cold sweat, soaking through his pants.

Yet, in this life-and-death moment, what he recalled was still the Mystical Technique.

It’s said that between life and death there is great fear. Although Hao Chong had persistently practiced, he had never yearned as much as he did now to practice the Mystical Technique again—if he had had such a resolve earlier, his Mystical Technique might have achieved something by now, as free as the Hermit Immortal on Taiyin Mountain.

But the problem is, even that Hermit Immortal was still beaten to smithereens...

"...Hmm?"

Just as County Magistrate Hao Chong was in a daze, he suddenly noticed that the stout man named Du Chengfeng just walked out.

He wasn’t dead; instead, the rebel threatening to murder officials had left.

Could it be that heaven truly has a benevolent nature?

"Phew..."

Narrowly escaping death, Hao Chong let out a sigh of relief. The joy of surviving made his entire body go limp, and the constables who had been knocked to the ground supported each other, cursing in whispers.

However, amidst the uproar, the stout man named Du Chengfeng returned.

In his hand was a saddlebag.

Spread out on the ground, a row of gleaming weapons caught everyone’s eyes.

"Who should I use..." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

As he scanned the row of weapons in the saddlebag, Du Chengfeng scratched his head.

It was at this moment that County Magistrate Hao Chong and the constables realized that the man named Du Chengfeng hadn’t left but had gone out to retrieve weapons.

"I’ve decided, it’s you!"

With that, a Bladeless Strange Sword was pulled out from the saddlebag.

With a loud bang, County Magistrate Hao Chong’s brains were instantly splattered, leaving no doubt of his demise.

"Murder!"

Seeing the county magistrate killed with a single blow, the constables scattered in all directions.

But Du Chengfeng wouldn’t let these witnesses escape. With a few leaps, he caught up and broke their limbs.

He merely broke their arms and legs. Du Chengfeng didn’t consider himself bloodthirsty and would not commit senseless acts of murder or negligence of life.

"So be it."

Looking at the Rectangular Sword in his hand, Du Chengfeng thought for a moment but ultimately didn’t swing it down.

Yet, just when the constables, overjoyed, thought they had finally escaped, they saw Du Chengfeng whistle at the county office gate.

Soon, thirty or so fearsome prairie warriors entered, quickly tying them up and carrying them away.

The refugee group, which had lost over a hundred members due to the Taiyin Mountain God Temple incident, welcomed new recruits once more.

After Du Chengfeng left the county office, the other prairie soldiers galloped over, worthy of their elite title. Although fewer than three hundred, they exuded a formidable momentum akin to thousands of troops—the entire city of Yiyang was thrown into chaos, and for a moment, people believed the prairie men had already conquered Yanzhou, bypassed Taiyin Mountain, and charged all the way here.

Amidst this chaos, Du Chengfeng found Liu Bolun, exchanged some jars of wine, and then set the county office ablaze.

Once everything turned to ashes, there was no evidence left.

"You... well, it’s indeed not wrong."

Liu Bolun, sober this time, realized after listening to Du Chengfeng’s account of events, that the county magistrate of Yiyang and that Zhang Qi likely knew each other, and that excuse might have been a setup to harm them—if they hadn’t encountered Du Chengfeng, the actual rebel, they might have all died there. Even with Du Chengfeng presenting official credentials, it was unlikely the county magistrate of Yiyang would leave any survivors in self-protection.

Du Chengfeng’s hasty arrangement was indeed the best solution at the moment.

Anyway, they could blame it on the prairie people, saying it’s all part of their plot. The despicable prairie people had already planted many agents within Da Chen’s borders, with that Zhang Qi from the Taiyin Mountain God Temple being one of those spies, plotting rebellion under the support of the prairie people, intending to declare their loyalty to the Desert North Royal Court.